


In the Workshop

by kijikun



Series: Some Assembly Required [3]
Category: Captain America (Comics), Iron Man (Comic), Marvel 616
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-29
Updated: 2011-07-29
Packaged: 2017-10-21 22:46:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/230693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kijikun/pseuds/kijikun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Maria spend some quality time in the workshop, and Tony deals with the decisions he's made affecting more than just him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Workshop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cursor_mundi](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=cursor_mundi).



> Betas: , , , 

A month after the world learned that Captain America – Steve Rogers – was still alive, Tony started to wonder if Steve regretted staying at the tower.

Tony leaned across one of the larger work tables in his workshop. The War Machine armor was spread across the table, looking like oversize pieces of a broken Transformer. Rhodey had shown up that morning while Tony was tweaking his own armor. Maria hadn’t come down yet, since Jarvis insisted that little girls needed breakfast. She’d already been to the gym before Tony woke up– he could really have done without her having that particular trait.

Rhodey complained that the response was sluggish in the left gauntlet, and then looked around the workshop in surprise. Tony hadn’t been sure what had caught his friend’s attention until Maria came bounding down a few minutes later asking, if she could work on Dummy now.

He smiled to himself as he reached inside one piece of the armor to reach the release screws. He had designed a tool to do just that, but he missed the hands on approach; he couldn't do this with his own armor anymore.

Dummy was Maria's current project. Tony had the vague impression that the name was an inside joke between her and Franklin Richards. He could just ask her, but he wanted her to be able to have some secrets. When he asked her something, if she knew she'd tell him even if she didn't want to tell him, she told him. So he didn't ask, and let her have her secrets. He'd prefer her telling him because she wanted to.

It was after Maria came in that he realized what Rhodey was looking at – Maria's low worktable. It was placed close enough to Tony’s that he could watch her, but carefully away from anything too potentially dangerous. He had probably also noticed the locked cabinet against the wall, where Tony now kept tools that he wanted to keep out of Maria’s hands. She wasn’t allowed in the workshop without him, and while she'd listen to the rule thus far he wanted to plan ahead for when she decided to be willful. Or just had to finish something in the middle of the night and didn't want to wake him up. Sometimes he swore she took after him even though that was impossible.

Rhodey had laughed and told Tony he was turning outright domestic, and not to let her take over the world before she was twelve. And to try not to keep his armor _all_ weekend.

He'd fixed the problem with the gauntlet hours ago, but Tony had wanted to upgrade the War Machine armor for a while now.

Tony striped down another wire, tempted to use his teeth because it was often faster and easier, but he was trying to set a good example for Maria. She tended to copy his behavior in the workshop

Tony paused for a moment, contemplating the gleaming metal. He hadn’t been able to when he first designed this armor, but he could easily enhance mobility without losing much of the fire power, or the protection of the armor.

Also it would look a hell of a lot better with a coat of red paint. But Rhodey had threatened to send a picture of Tony wearing a mini skirt and straddling Rhodey’s lap to a tabloid if a single drop of paint touched the armor. Tony wasn’t sure if the picture actually existed. Not to mention he thought he’d remember getting that close to having sex with Rhodey, but he also knew Rhodey wouldn’t send it, even if the picture _did_ exist.

Tony glanced over at Maria. Her brow was wrinkling, and she had a screw driver in her mouth. Steve would frown if he saw that and say she’d gotten that from watching Tony, but Steve wasn't around enough these days to see it.

Her designs were pretty good – he’d looked them over first. They had a few flaws, but Tony felt she needed to work them out for herself. That’s how his dad had done it with him.

The armature section looked to be coming across nicely, and while Tony wasn’t sure why she wanted to build something that could pick things up for you, he couldn’t talk. His first design wasn’t all that useful either. Why would anyone need jet powered roller skates?

Maria glared at a wire like it was offending her, and Tony stifled both a laugh and the urge to go over and help her. His little genius would figure it out on her own, and he wanted this to be _her_ project. He knew what it meant at that age.

He looked back to the jumble of armor parts on his worktable. He wondered if Rhodey would notice if he added a self correcting guidance system but figured he would. Rhodey liked flying stick, so to speak.

“Tony?”

He glanced up to find Maria had abandoned her screw driver. “Yeah, genius?”

He could see the indecision in her eyes, and thought she was going to ask for help.

“Is Steve going to be home for dinner?”

Tony suppressed a sigh out of habit. Maria looked for disapproval in every gesture, sound, and expression he made. It was frustrating but not her fault. “I’m not sure. He had a lot to do today.”

Steve always had a lot to do these days. Tony understood, for the most part -- there were people who wouldn't listen if Tony was there, or flat out didn't want to see Tony, or wanted to kill Tony. Steve never came right out and said it, but Tony knew it was easier for Steve to handle the other heroes, and the press, without the SHRA poster boy standing two steps behind him. He meant well, but it stung that Steve preferred Tony stay at the tower with Maria or deal with the Ezekiel Stane. Granted, Tony would rather do just that, but the SHRA was his mess, his responsibility.

But Tony was a big boy. He could handle Steve missing dinner every now and then. Maria couldn't.

Maria’s face went careful blank, and her posture a little stiffer, though he could see her chewing the inside of her cheek. Sometimes Tony wondered just how much progress he’d really made with her.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, her voice just as blank as her face.

He hated that voice. It still made him want to put on his armor and punch Senator Rutgers in the face – after exposing what he and others had allowed to be done to _children_ \-- but it would unravel everything Steve and others had worked for in getting the SHRA overthrown.

Or maybe it would help them by showing how unstable the SHRA poster boy was – but then he’d lose Maria. “No, no,” he assured her. “You didn’t do anything wrong. He’s just had a lot of things that needed to be done.”

He dropped his gaze to the Rhodey’s armor.

He might lose her anyway. Rutgers had been hinting at exposing just how unfit of a parent Tony Stark was, if he didn’t get Steve under control. And Stane’s continued attacks on SI facilities – though much smaller scale – and Tony’s inability to catch the little shit, would only help the _good_ Senator's position.

The sound of her sneakers on the floor grew closer – he needed to get her some steel toed shoes – and then Maria’s small, warm hand curled around his arm.

“Doesn’t he – doesn’t he --” Her forehead wrinkled. “Doesn’t he want us anymore?”

Tony turned and brought his hand up to stroke her hair. She needed another hair cut. “He would have left if he didn’t,” he told her. "Missing dinner doesn't mean he doesn't want us."

Maria leaned against him, a small warm weight. “I don’t understand,” she complained. “It doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand.”

Her fists were balled, and her face was a mask of frustration and confusion. A few months ago, she would have been in a full scale tantrum over her routine being broken– he hated calling them that because she wasn’t spoiled, she didn’t do it to get her way, she had them because she was scared and confused and didn’t understand when things deviated from routine ---

Tony’s hand shook slightly as he continued to stroke her hair.

"He used to color with me all the time. He used to never miss dinner. He used to watch movies with just us on Thursday," her voice raised sharply, then fell. "Now there's all those other people, and he sits in the wrong spot. Why does he do that? It doesn't make sense. Peter and MJ sit together, why doesn't he sit with us? It doesn't make sense."

Tony crouched down in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “I know. Sometimes things just don’t, Maria. People aren’t like machines.”

“I wish they were,” she said, her shoulders slumping. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. “I think I like machines better.”

Tony hugged her back and picked her up – mostly because he wasn’t going to able to for much longer, nine was awfully old for him to be picking her up. But she was on the small size for her age.

“Better than me and Franklin?” he teased.

Maria giggled, and he could feel her shaking her head. “You and Franklin don’t count.”

He carried her towards the elevator; he could finish working on the armor later. Rhodey would have tossed to him having other priorities. “What about Jarvis? Do you like machines better than him?”

“No!” she protested. “Jarvis is much better than a machine. He can make cookies.”

Tony pretended to think about that while he shifted her weight to his hip. “What about a machine that can make cookies? Would you like that better than him?”

“A machine couldn’t make cookies as good as Jarvis’ cookies,” Maria told him, wrinkling her nose.

Tony laughed, and kissed her forehead, as they rode the elevator up to the penthouse. “Well it just so happens I agree with you, genius.”

And though he was still laughing and teasing her gently when they reached the penthouse, Tony had come to a decision.

He and Steve needed to have a long overdue conversation that night.


End file.
